Short walks are a wonderful way to help break up the day, manage stress, boost your mood and aid weight loss. If your schedule is tight (or you just want to break up your longer walks into shorter bouts), a 10-minute walking workout is a great way to reap the health benefits.
Every bit of walking counts and these three short options are designed to help you make the most out of every minute. Feel free to mix and match them throughout your day or week as you see fit. You may want to start by adding just one 10-minute walk per day, and slowly work your way up to three throughout the day as your schedule and energy levels allow.
Walk #1: Energy Booster
If you’re feeling sluggish, it’s a good idea to take a break and get outside. This energy booster workout focuses on movement to help wake you up, and deep, full breathing, which is one of the most effective and efficient ways to energize the body. One of the breathing exercises you may want to try during this walk uses the ‘Stair Technique’ where you inhale for four steps, then exhale for four steps. If you are walking very briskly, however, you may simply want to count to four slowly as you inhale, and then exhale for four counts if your feet are moving too fast to sync up with your breath. See what works best for you, even if it takes a little time and practice to get used to focusing on your breath while walking.
Walk #2: Power Pace
If you’re ready to amp things up, head out for this power walk, designed to help you rev up the intensity in a short amount of time. Focus on maintaining good posture, driving your arms back and forth, and powering through your full foot to help you move as quickly as you can during the power pace portion. Your intensity level should be strong (intensity level 6), but steady (your breath should quicken noticeably at this speed but still remain under control).
Walk #3: Interval Push
Interval training is an excellent way to boost your overall caloric burn, and it’s easy to do, even in this quick walk. You should notice a jump in your effort and intensity level from your brisk, ‘power pace’ to the ‘power push up’ interval where you’ll want to go all out as fast as you can (you can turn this into a jog or run if you like, or keep it low-impact and simply increase your speed as much as possible). You may need to work your way up to a full minute at this intensity, so be sure to listen to your body.
